Fastening means for electric heating pads



Oct. 2, 1934. p MaCSWEENEY 1,975,329

FASTENING MEANS FOR ELECTRIC HEATING PADS Filed Feb. 6, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet l B Y A TTbmvE y Oct. 2, 1934. J. P. M SWEENEYF'AS'I'EIIIIIG' MEANS FOR ELECTRIC HEATING PADS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledFeb. 6, 1931 .INVENTOR JOSEPH P/Zvc Swarm-r 2% A TORNEY Patented Oct. 2,1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FASTENING MEANS FOR ELECTRIC HEATINGPADS Application February 6, 1931, Serial No. 514,019

1 Claim.

This invention relates to electric heating pads and more especially tomeans for temporarily fastening such pads to any part of the body andone of the objects of the invention is to provide 5 such fastening meansin combination with an auxiliary cover of pliable. thin and porousfabric which will not impair the heat radiating efiiciency of theelectric heating pad and will form a protective and reinforcing casingfor it.

Another object of this invention is to so attach the fastening means tothe auxiliary cover that the heating pad can be fastened in place whenplaced around both large and small parts of the body.

Other objects and attendant advantages will be more readily apparentfrom the detailed description of one embodiment of my inventionreference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is aperspective view of an electric heating pad provided with my combinedauxiliary cover and fastening means.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the electric heating pad and coverillustrated in Figure 1, the dotted lines in this "figure showing howthe fasten- ,ing means permit the enveloping of a small part of thebody, such as an arm or limb, which makes necessary the overlapping ofthe sides of the electric heating pad.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of the combinedauxiliary cover and fastening means and the heating pad placed withinthe cover.

In the figures of the drawings like reference numerals indicate likeparts.

The auxiliary cover and fastening means for electric heating padsforming the subject matter of my present invention serves to materiallyincrease the utility of such heating pads in addi- 40 tion to keepingthe pad proper from being soiled. As illustrated in the figures thecover is made up in the form of a fiat and narrow bag I having its topleft open. The electric heating pad 2 is inserted into the cover thruthe open top until all but the upper end of the pad is surrounded by it.The material from which the bag shaped cover is made up is preferably athin, flexible and porous or loosely woven fabric which permits a quickradiation of the heat generated by the heating pad. The electric cord 3thru which the electric current is furnished to the pad and which ispermanently attached to the pad and its heating unit, enters the openend of the cover so as not to interfere with the ready insertion of thepad into the cover 1 or its removal from it.

The fastening means proper are provided by one or more straps 4, 4 whichare sewed or otherwise suitably fastened to one side of the cover asillustrated in Figure 1. These straps are also made up of flexiblematerial and are fastened to the cover at an intermediate point with oneend of the strap leading from the cover preferably longer than theother. The straps are fastened to one side of the cover but only for ashort distance as illustrated in all of the figures. This is essentialbecause it permits the folding of the pad with its cover around a smallpart of the body, such as an arm or limb, without impairing the functionof the fastening straps. In folding the pad around a body-of smallcircumference, the ends of the pad must overlap each other asillustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2 and the portion of the sides ofthe cover which are free from the straps permit such an overlapping ofthe sides of the pad and cover without interference by the straps.Furthermore the straps are free to encircle the overlapped portions ofthe pad and cover and when the ends are tied together hold the cover andpad, including the overlapped portions thereof, firmly in place.

While I have shown three straps fastened to the cover, it is understoodthat but one or two may be used. On the other hand if two or more strapsare provided on the cover only one of them may be used to fasten theheating pad and cover in place.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that, while the cover isnot positively fastened to the heating pad, it provides a protectivereinforcing casing for the pad which in turn provides positive means forfastening the pad in place as above pointed out. With the fasteningstraps fastened to the cover the pad may thus be fastened in placewithout in any way straining the structure of the heating pad proper.

In the modified form of the cover and its fas tening means illustratedin Figure 3, the straps 6, 6 are not permanently fastened to one side ofthe cover, but pass thru a series of eyelets 7, 7 which are insertedinto the side of the cover. These eyelets are so arranged in the side ofthe cover that the straps 6, 6 may be passed therethru either parallelto the top and bottom or parallel to the ends of the pad or parallel toboth the top and bottom and ends thereof. In this way the cover and itsheating pad may be tied to the body in either direction.

I claim:

A flexible fabric cover for flexible electric heating pads, made up inthe form of a thin bag to reduce its heat insulating property to aminimum, said bag having the outline and shape of the electrical pad andhaving one end of the bag open to permit the pad to slide in and out ofthe bag, a strap having an intermediate section thereof fastened to oneside of the bag intermediate the top, bottom and ends thereof to per-

